Family Movie Night #1: Beau is Afraid
For some reason I've been having trouble getting to critical films lately, so now I'm doing this exercise. The tenor of Beau's reviews was in that sweet spot so I was pretty sure I'd like this. It is rare to see a 2024 life in the cinema. Joaquin is apartmented in a CHAZ-hellscape that constantly reminds of certain rudimentary realities that lean to horror: getting locked out, visible purgatoried storage, and theft. This is basically a long series of sketches. Enough of them land to make it all worthwhile--e.g. the joint demandment, slurped paint, audience trickle
Family Movie Night #2: Babe: Pig in the City
It may have been 9/11 or computers, but something killed the spiritual essence of the great period from '96 to '01. There was still some belief in the future (maybe b/c we thought there wasn't one) and we still had a wonderful sense of design and continuity. The pig goes to the most beautiful city ever seen onscreen. All his friends finally see his lifeblood and offer their deferrals
Family Movie Night #3: Trouble in Paradise
You are told of the great joys of progress, of improvement, of solved problems, but then you notice a thing like this. Where the rhythm is under total control, and the actors' movements and feeling can be seen and felt. What are we even doing with all of this stuff? It's all been built already!